


Swarmed

by t0talcha0s



Category: BioShock
Genre: Bioshock Gift Exchange Fill, Canon-Compliant, Original Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 04:00:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7829653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t0talcha0s/pseuds/t0talcha0s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Rearden was one of Rapture's great men, he claimed his slice of Rapture's pie, but Rapture was known for destroying great men.  </p><p>My fill for the bioshock gift exchange! My partner was Arszanka on tumblr and they asked for a story about their OC James, more info about James can be found on Bee-swarm.tumblr.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swarmed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arszanka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arszanka/gifts).



James Rearden was a man of great accomplishment and great ambition. Topside he had almost singlehandedly established the world's greatest apiary, full of almost every variety of bee that the world had to offer. His apiary was a crowning achievement, but his success was something the government saw as a threat, and his beloved apiary was burnt and polluted and some of his most valuable bees were dead. James was completely taken aback by the audacity behind the governments actions and it was at this time that a man by the name of Andrew Ryan reached out to James. 

Ryan's philosophy was pretty cut and dry, the marketplace ought to be controlled by the business owners and shouldn't have to deal with government interference, and it was one that James couldn't help but agree with after his government caused tragedy. Andrew told James of an underwater utopia where his philosophy would be the basis of the government, and where any businessman would be free to pursue the business he pleased. James couldn't believe it at first but soon found himself on a boat to a lighthouse in the middle of the freezing ocean. 

James found little success in Rapture. His apiary and laboratory sat in Arcadia, right next to the Farmer's Market, and had a bright neon sign over its door proclaiming 'Demeter's Delight'. He employed Tasha Denu, and several eggheads he didn't bother to really learn the names of besides jotting them down in his checkbook each week. It all started off well, but being under the ocean with no sunlight to be found his bees were confused and infertile. 

Then came ADAM, the creation of some some young geneticist who worked for Fontaine Futuristics. James knew this could be the breakthrough he was looking for. The first few experiments were unsuccessful but eventually he created a stronger, more venomous bee that could thrive in the lack of sunlight. He was elated, but he wasn't going to stop there. 

It was during an experiment that James thought would lead to nothing that his hired eggheads created their best and worst product yet. After combining ADAM with the venom of their new strain of bees they created a plasmid which gave the user the ability to communicate with and control bees. The plasmid was named 'Insect Swarm'. 

James had never felt the need to splice before, he saw the drug addicts roaming the streets, and sometimes the walls, of Rapture and he saw how insane they were. Yet, there was something about the ability to directly communicate with his bees that drew James and his curiosity to be the first person with Insect Swarm flowing through his veins. At first it was perfect, he could control his bees, he could make them more efficient, he could maximize his profits and minimize his time spent working. He avoided any idealistic battles that Ryan, Lamb, and Fontaine seemed to have on a daily basis, and he was happy. 

But James was different, he was moodier, more aggressive, he became hyper-focused on his business, leaving no room for anything else in his life, and sometimes his own thoughts could cause him to lash out or break down. Despite this James forced himself to go to the biggest party of the year, a New Year's Eve party hosted by Ryan at the Kashmir, everyone would be there and it could be a massive business opportunity. 

James arrived in a suit, perfectly tailored and pressed. The party was packed, and James tried his hardest to channel the charm that he had been so renowned for in his youth, before he became a business tycoon. He joked with those he could talk to, trying to shove down his anxious and angry inner thoughts, he smiled so his eyes crinkled pleasantly and ignored how the appetizers he had eaten felt like a rock in his stomach. 

Ryan chimed in over the radio, toasting the new year and its success, and James clinked his glass with some couple he was talking to and took a drink. He excused himself politely to use the restroom, and found a portion of it ruined, no doubt, by splicers. James despised splicers, despite having ADAM in his veins and how he found their anger reflected in his own actions whenever someone he didn't know went near his beehives. 

James heard the counting down to New Years as he exited the bathroom, seeing happy people excitedly cheering and kissing as the new year arrived. Then there was an explosion, so sudden and loud James almost didn't notice it happen. He fell back onto his ass and felt a piece of something, metal or wood maybe, lodge itself in his cheek. He screamed in pain and through the ringing of his ears he heard the chants of,

"Long live Atlas! Death to Ryan!" Those were the sounds that accompanied James blacking out. 

When James came too he realized how lucky he was that he did black out. Piles of corpses and rubble surrounded him, blood and gunpowder stained the whole room a disgusting, and gory swirl. James hair was disheveled and portions of the blond strands were red with blood, he didn't know who's. His collar was ripped and he had a black eye, a nasty cut on his cheek, and bruises on his chest. He felt like utter shit as he slowly got to his feet, his head pounding and his limbs aching. The aftermath of the Kashmir was eerily silent, just the tapping of water leaking in from the cracked windows, James knew he couldn't stay there. The structural integrity of the building was compromised and James needed to get back to his bees, Demeter's Delight was calling his name. 

James limped towards the door and, hearing the insane murmurs of Atlas' troops outside, he picked up a crowbar in the hands of a dead splicer for protection. He opened the door slowly and cautiously, the throb in his injuries dulling as his instincts and anxiety ratcheted up a notch. Four of Atlas' splicers aimlessly wandered around outside the Kashmir, two were engaged in some kind of petty squabble, pushing each other and waving their weapons but James couldn't make out what they were saying, one was crooning into in empty baby carriage, and the last was looting the dead bodies that lined the streets. James needed to get back to his bees, for now he only had the hive that lived in his hand. 

"I smell a rat." One of the splicers cooed, and James quickly ducked behind a pole, his heart rate quickening. Footsteps of an approaching splicer filled James' ears, and he held his crowbar tightly. When the splicer rounded the corner he whacked her over the head and ignored the fear and anxiety that rose in his chest. He ran out into the open, sending some of his bees at one splicer, who screamed horribly as the bees stung relentlessly into his flesh, and James ran as fast as he could towards the nearest tunnel that would lead to Arcadia. One of the other splicers chased after him, and James swung his crowbar into the splicer's leg, running away from him. 

James was panting and in more pain then he'd ever felt before by the time he reached Arcadia. The hills and plants were comfortably familiar but James refused to feel comfortable as he knew Arcadia was infested by a dangerous cult of Splicers called the Saturnine. James stuck near the walls of Arcadia, so no one could sneak up on him and he would go mostly unseen among the plant life. Arcadia smelled like smoke, and it only made James feel worse, he'd hated fire ever since his topside apiary was the victim of government arson, and smoke was the only thing that could control and ruin his bees. 

He stopped to breathe and heal himself at a health station, feeling better as some soreness was alleviated. He was so close to home, he had just come across the Farmer's Market entrance. He sat for a rest in one of the old ticket booths, close to closing his eyes but knowing the risks were too great. 

There was a pop of painfully electric smelling red, and suddenly a laughing splicer stood in front of him. She had a hand full of fire and a tommy gun and her hair was red with blood and her face was disgusting and covered in tumors. He clamored to his feet, swinging his crowbar at her, he wouldn't dare use his bees against incinerate, that would kill or at least hurt them. 

"A feisty little fish." She said, her voice piercing into James' head and filling it with terror. He swung his crowbar at her as he burst past her into the open to run. There was a bright burst of pain in his leg, and he collapsed to one knee. He clamored to get up and limp away, trying his best to get away from her as she laughed. He looked behind her and saw the moment her finger pulled the trigger of her tommy gun again. This time hitting his arm, he dropped his crowbar with a sharp clatter. His breath was heavy and he could barely move, he didn't know what to do, his bees would die, he needed to protect them over himself. Suddenly a bright swath of orange and red covered Jame's clothing, the smell of burning hair filling his nose and he screamed. He had never felt this agony before, but he felt strangely empty. He fired some bees, not at the woman, but away from him, hoping they could escape the fire that consumed his blond hair and suit jacket. Soon another shot to his chest, two, three, utter agony drawn out over what seemed like years but was probably only eight seconds at most. His body and bees lay in Arcadia, right next to the Farmer's Market gate, and had a bright neon sign over its destruction proclaiming 'Tickets'. James Rearden was a great man, but sometimes even great men fell, he was not the first in Rapture and Rapture would see many great men fall after he did.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lot of fun and I noticed after writing this that it reminded me of an incomplete fic I wrote about Gil and that's why I added some emphasis on the great men portion of things. 
> 
> My tumblr is barefootcosplayer.


End file.
